Abstract
Radioactive Krypton, when contained in a balloon inflated in a dog's stomach, provides a safe, convenient procedure for suppressing gastric acidity. The induction of achlorhydria by roentgen therapy has been discarded because of inability to achieve adequate, intense selective radiation; the liver may suffer damage and necrosis, and in a few instances fatality has resulted(1,2). Simon(3) reported the use of P32 in suppressing acidity; while effective, the method was technically difficult because it involved the use of a double balloon with the phosphorus absorbed into cotton cemented to the outside of the inner balloon. McKendry(4) and Forse, McKendry and Webster(5) have used I131 for the same purpose, instilling it in solution so that it formed a thin film between the walls of a double walled balloon. In a series of well controlled experiments they were able to decrease the volume of secretion by gastric pouches without significant alteration of pH. Exact local radiation can be given only by an isotope with beta and no gamma emission. Most beta emitters such as P32 cannot be used inside a balloon because they must be dissolved in water—the water absorbs more than 90% of the radiation from the isotope in balloons of adequate size. However the absorption of beta radiation in a gas-filled balloon is negligible.
Two preliminary survey experiments were done with Argon 41 because of its 1.2 Mev beta emission. The dosage unit used is the “roentgen equivalent physical” or “rep” defined as that amount of beta radiation which, under equilibrium conditions, releases in one gram of air as much energy as one roentgen of gamma rays. A beta dosage of about 12,000 rep to a Heidenhain pouch in one dog reduced the volume of histamine stimulated flow from 35 to 3 cc and changed the pH from 1 to 6 and the total acid from 140 units to 15 units.
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